- Euro retreats from nearly 2-year high; still up on the day
- Yuan recovers to trade around 7 per dollar
- U.S. jobless claims rise, add to dollar bearishness
- U.S. coronavirus cases surge again
- Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Recasts, adds new comment, FX table, U.S. data, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
The dollar dropped to a more than four-month low on Thursday, as investors continued to sell the buck on expectations the U.S. economy will likely underperform its peers in the developed world with the surge in new coronavirus cases.
By contrast, the euro held gains after hitting a nearly two-year high above $1.16 on Wednesday. A rise in U.S. jobless claims in the latest week, the first time in four months, also added to the dollar's woes, as a persistent increase in COVID-19 cases has derailed the labor market and dampened consumer demand.
"There has been a turn in dollar sentiment," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist, at Bannockburn Forex in New York. "Two months ago, my dollar bearishness was not a consensus view. I think now it has become pretty much consensus."
He added that Friday's global manufacturing data would likely show that Europe seems to be "getting better than the U.S., with a lot of the signs pointing to a slowing in the country."
U.S. coronavirus cases approached 4 million on Thursday, with over 2,600 new cases every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters tally.
With over 143,000 deaths, or 4.4 fatalities per 10,000 people, the United States ranks sixth globally for the highest deaths per capita. It is exceeded by the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Chile and France.
In midmorning trading, the index that measures the dollar against major currencies was down 0.1% at 94.934 =USD , after hitting its lowest since March 9. The dollar index has lost nearly 8% since its March 20 peak, when a global dollar funding crunch saw a surge in demand.
Against the safe-haven Japanese yen, the dollar was flat at 107.14 JPY=EBS . The euro EUR=EBS was up 0.1% at $1.1581, just below a 21-month high of $1.1601 hit earlier on Wednesday amid agreement on a European recovery fund.
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 retreated from a 15-month peak against the greenback to around US$0.7105, down 0.5%, while the New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 fell 0.4% to US$0.6637, just below Wednesday's six-month top of US$0.6678.
Elsewhere, China's offshore yuan partially recovered losses from an earlier slide against the U.S. dollar, which was last down 0.1% at 7.009 yuan CNH=EBS .
U.S.-China ties have deteriorated this year over issues ranging from the new coronavirus and telecoms gear maker Huawei, to China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and Hong Kong crackdown.
The United States gave China until Friday to close its consulate in Houston following allegations of spying.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:30AM (1430 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1589 $1.1568 +0.18% +3.38% +1.1597 +1.1541 Dollar/Yen JPY= 107.0900 107.1400 -0.05% -1.63% +107.2200 +107.0800 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.12 123.97 +0.12% +1.78% +124.2400 +123.7200 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9261 0.9295 -0.37% -4.31% +0.9301 +0.9263 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2721 1.2732 -0.09% -4.06% +1.2753 +1.2674 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3403 1.3415 -0.09% +3.21% +1.3427 +1.3371 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7118 0.7138 -0.28% +1.38% +0.7161 +0.7091 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0735 1.0753 -0.17% -1.08% +1.0762 +1.0716 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9107 0.9084 +0.25% +7.72% +0.9124 +0.9082 NZ NZD= 0.6640 0.6661 -0.32% -1.43% +0.6689 +0.6631 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 9.1649 9.1389 +0.28% +4.40% +9.2214 +9.1055 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.6227 10.5970 +0.24% +7.98% +10.6455 +10.5523 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.8574 8.8549 -0.02% -5.24% +8.9113 +8.8377 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.2641 10.2657 -0.02% -1.96% +10.2880 +10.2420 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Dollar's performance in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2E8xdqJ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
